About the Ranch

Navajo-Churro lambs are cuddly as well as adapted to our climateFlip Flop Ranch is a family business with the goal of preserving endangered livestock and growing healthy food as well as providing a space for families to build relationships and learn about farming.

We raise heritage breeds such as Dorkings, Cotton Patch geese, Nigerian Dwarf goats, Guinea hogs, Australorps, Ancona ducks and Bourbon Red Turkeys. Heritage breeds are traditional livestock breeds that were raised by farmers in the past, before the drastic reduction of breed variety caused by the rise of industrial agriculture.

Within the past 15 years, 190 breeds of farm animals have gone extinct worldwide, and there are currently 1,500 others at risk of becoming extinct. In the past five years alone, 60 breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses and poultry have become extinct

Filming at the ranch

We were lucky enough to get the chance to share our ranch and what we do with the internet reality show Cholos Try Farming. Watch the video, learn about our place and get a good laugh while you’re at it 😉

Our animals

Traditionally, farmers throughout the world have raised thousands of different animal breeds and plant varieties. However, since today’s industrial farms rely upon only a few specialized types of livestock and crops, thousands of non-commercial animal breeds and crop varieties have disappeared, along with the valuable genetic diversity they possessed.

Fortunately, a growing number of sustainable farmers, such as ourselves, are preserving agricultural variety and protecting biodiversity by raising “heritage” animal breeds and crops.

American Guinea Hogs were brought from Africa during the slave trade and are one of the few pigs that can handle hot weather.Our gaggle of Cotton Patch Geese is one of the biggest in the WORLD and yet we only own about 50 geese. These geese are so rare that we drove 56 hours round trip (not including the week we spent broken down) to Texas to purchase and bring home one of only a handful of foundation flocks in order to help keep this breed from extinction.

The rate at which livestock breeds are disappearing is “alarming” and the UN is warning that precious genes could be lost forever.

It is of vital importance that we don’t let these ancient and unusual breeds perish. Their genes are adapted to harsh conditions or specialized jobs. Our Navajo-Churro sheep, for example, can make it through our blazing desert summers in full wool without hardly noticing while the common industrial breeds would die of heat stroke. Our goal is to help preserve these rare and amazing breeds while also sharing the joy of farming with all of you.

Why we offer weddings at the ranch

The primary reason we offer weddings at Flip Flop Ranch is to support the preservation of our endangered breeds. Because these breeds need so much help they don’t always pay for themselves let alone make enough money to pay for salaries or even extra necessities like veterinary care. Weddings help us to bring in extra money that will take care of these important animals.